Broke diff. mount.

[LowR3V'in]

ok.
done. feels good. much more solid back there.
took it around full rip. no snapped axles.
this fucked up chapter of my life is over.

Done by jet jones, on Flickr
Cool wheels by jet jones, on Flickr

[LowR3V'in]

The ie blue ones.

i would get delrin everything but i'm afraid that shit will make it feel like a
car accident every bump.

Framplate by jet jones, on Flickr


going to put the suspension on today and see if i break any more axles.

[moatilliatta]

What subframe bushings are you running?

[LowR3V'in]

Diff mount by jet jones, on Flickr

[kronus]

make top of subframe parallel to trunk floor.

[LowR3V'in]

yup, i've noticed the split some years ago but.. ya know.

shitting blood for a year then going to the doc him saying you have cancer
could of been treatable acouple months ago. too bad so sad. imagine.
not me but sorta what this diff situation is.

speed ring is pretty easy to tap on/off.

E36 speed ring by jet jones, on Flickr

just mark the spacer orientation
pop out of sides and the diff pulls out.

Marked position by jet jones, on Flickr
3.23 by jet jones, on Flickr



now i'm having trouble finding proper spot to put the mounting point.
this is how i sorta am eye balling the situation. i don't want to fuck up the angle.
advice?

How do I mount this by jet jones, on Flickr'


there is a huge amount of play up/down
i can jack it up where the subframe hits the trunk and lifts the car or leave the diff drop and it's pointing like super angled down.
bushings are ie blue bois.

[JGood]

Sweet. Make sure you post up when done, I'd like to know how you went about getting the diff ear mounting tab location figured out, trigger wheel swapped, etc...

I can't believed that structural member would break in half like that.

It starts as a small crack. Mine started where a hole was drilled in the cross member. As it flexes up and down every single time you go on and off the throttle, it just keeps bending, weakening, tearing more. It's not a single 'break'.

[dsphil]

I can't believed that structural member would break in half like that.

[LowR3V'in]

ya it was $15 w/ring.

E36 diff cover by jet jones, on Flickr

[JGood]

LOL, you carefully drilled out all of those spot welds, then had to cut it out anyway. Sorry, just sounds like something that would happen to me hahaha.

Are you just doing the single mount again, or e36 dual ear?

[LowR3V'in]

E30 diff mount by jet jones, on Flickr
E30 shitty diff mount by jet jones, on Flickr
E30 diff sux by jet jones, on Flickr
Diff support by jet jones, on Flickr


also, don't think u can pop out the spot welds and it falls off.
that muther fucker was glued on there like a bitch. need to cut it out.


E30 diff mount by jet jones, on Flickr

[moatilliatta]

I'm still curios how much of a culprit 30 year old worn out subframe bushings contribute to these failure on the E30.

My solution on my car. Overkill for stock level of power and grip.

[JGood]

I've never seen an e30 fail like the Z3's do, where the whole rail pulls down/separates. That's why Randy goes to that extent. With e30's it seems to always just be the tabs and maybe a vertical crack in the rail at the tab. Obviously doesn't hurt to overbuild though.

One thing I noticed is that your stock rubber diff bushing is torn on the bottom, separated from the outer race. Mine was too. I got under there with a pry bar and pulled down on the diff, it easily pulled down, the rubber bushing was just pivoting and smashing around that outer race. I think what happens, is when you shift hard, launch, etc... the diff actually gets some momentum with the bushing not doing anything, and then it finally catches and it's almost like an impact on those tabs, especially when you wheel hop. I bet that's what does the damage we see.

Here's a video of mine with the worn rubber bushing. Check out the diff movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyumsTiV0pc

I swapped in an 80A poly mount, the diff doesn't move at all, it's 100% solid. I welded up the cracks and am just going to see how it holds up. If it fails again, I'll do some reinforcing and/or a 2nd mount.

[LowR3V'in]

probably this piece of shit is still going to keep breaking if its just welded back up like stock.

[Fsnow]

Holy shit, that is quite the project. Is that how you are attacking this?